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Darkfallen
Darkfallen are a unique kind of undead blood elf in service to the Scourge. Introduction During Illidan's failed campaign on Northrend, Arthas shattered his forces, took the most powerful blood elves, and transformed them into darkfallen. Most of the characters identified as darkfallen are also members of the San'layn faction, though exactly how the groups relate to one another is uncertain. What is certain is that the San'layn oversee the Scourge's operations throughout Azeroth,http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underdev/3p3/icecrown-raid.xml acting as agents, leaders, or ambassadors.http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath/features/dungeons/utgarde.xml[[Elder Ko'nani]] The only darkfallen not tagged as San'layn are High Priest Andorath in Borean Tundra, Prince Navarius in Zul'Drak, Prince Taldaram in Ahn'kahet, and Prince Sandoval in Icecrown. The greatest concentrations of darkfallen are located in the Temple City of En'kilah in northeastern Borean Tundra, and in The Crimson Hall inside Icecrown Citadel; these are also the only places where unnamed darkfallen appear. History Some time after the Great Sundering, most of the surviving Highborne were exiled from Kalimdor and settled in the eastern continent, founding the kingdom of Quel'Thalas. They became known as high elves and during this time, they created the Sunwell. During the Third War, Prince Arthas led his army of the Scourge against them, ravaging Quel'Thalas and corrupting the Sunwell. Despite their efforts, most of the high elven population was eradicated during this conflict. In remembrance of their fallen brethren, most of them renamed themselves the blood elves, or sin'dorei, and swore to avenge their fallen race. Cut off from their source, the elves went into magic withdrawal. Desperate for aid following the Third War, the Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider pledged allegiance to Illidan Stormrage who promised to grant them a new source of magic. Together with their allies the naga, the blood elves went to Northrend in an attempt to destroy the Lich King, seeking to avenge their defeat; however, they were defeated by Arthas, who shattered their forces and took the most powerful blood elves into his service as the San'layn, turning them into darkfallen. Appearance Darkfallen, like their still-living kin, are tall and lithe with athletic builds, typically standing just taller than a human, little over 6 feet and weighing somewhat less, between 100 to 175 pounds. However, unlike blood elves, they have clawed fingers, eyes with white, green, blue or red glow, and ears more closely resembling those of a bat. Their flesh appears necrotic and, though universally pale, ranges from fleshy pinks to sickly shades of gray or light green, and they tend to have either white or dark hair. Culture Darkfallen infantry soldiers, most of the times, dress in typical Scourge attire,Darkfallen Bloodbearer while the High Priests and Blood Princes (also known as Blood Lords) dress in red and black garments, similar to their living cousins, the blood elves. They are vampiric in nature, especially in the case of the Blood Princes, who are known to consume the flesh, blood, and souls of their victims. Apart from their stylish and vampiric habits, the darkfallen fall in line with the Scourge practice of utilizing the architecture and technology of assimilated cultures,The Decree of the Scourge such as that of the nerubians.War of the Spider (History of Warcraft) Such practice made the Scourge incorporate the blood elven culture, which can be seen on the decoration of parts of the Icecrown Citadel. They are often found in strongholds of other Scourge-affiliated races alongside with it's local leadership, or in command of Scourge bases or operations across Northrend. The darkfallen are skilled in a variety of magic schools, including necromancy, often make use of vampiric skills that involve blood, and have even demonstrated some shape-shifting abilities. Notable darkfallen Other darkfallen * - Retainer of Prince Valanar. * - Retainer of Prince Valanar. Trivia Vampire inspiration The Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King includes two pieces of concept art for the race; the first, titled "High Elf Nosferatu", is clearly inspired by Count Orlok from the classic German silent film Nosferatu, while the second depicts what appears to be a high elf with stitched-together flesh, dressed in elegant armor and wielding wing-like arrays of shields across his arms, which double as weapon racks, holding a number of blades. The darkfallen, specifically the Princes, appear to be strongly inspired by the portrayals of vampires in both film and fiction, having bat-like ears, wearing cloaks with high collars and masks with fang patterns over their mouths. They also display mannerisms and characteristics strongly associated with the classic vampires of film and fiction, such as Bela Lugosi's portrayal of Count Dracula, and even have voice acting with a similar accent. Additional references have also been made to the Castlevania series of video games by Konami. Vrykul origin Early reports (of unknown accuracy) about the WotLK Alpha implied that what is now the darkfallen were vrykul wearing the Malefic Raimenthttp://www.wowwiki.com/index.php?title=Prince_Keleseth&oldid=798750. Later, but before they got their current model, they were changed to elves wearing the Malefic Raiment.Prince Valanar's old model Chris Metzen said at BlizzCon 2007 that the vrykul were vampiric, something that is not visited in-game. It may be that the darkfallen were the vampiric vrykul, but the idea that they were vrykul was scrapped. Speculation Race The darkfallen were never confirmed as a race. The World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Bestiary listed "Darkfallen" as one of the races it was going to give lore on, but Darkfallen was never added. The Darkfallen Bloodbearers and Darkfallen Deathblades are the only creatures in Wrath of the Lich King that have this name, and they are part of the San'layn, which is made up a group of vampire-like undead. It can therefore be speculated that the San'layn are of the darkfallen race. References External links ru:Мракопадшие Category:Darkfallen Category:Wrath of the Lich King